Burbank, California The Mayor's Show, 27 Jul 2023

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From YouTube: Mayor’s Show – Skating Through Adversity

Description

Mayor Konstantine Anthony sits down with Coco Atama, a highly regarded and inspirational athlete, entertainer, and motivator. Coco talks about being blind and skating through adversity.

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Hey everyone- this is mayor, konstantine, anthony here with another episode of the mayor, show.

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We're out at valley skate park open seven days a week for skateboarding scootering and.

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Bmx biking we're going to meet with cocoa tama a local burbank resident who's been skating.

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Here for quite a while and has a special story to tell, but first I want to remind everyone.

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Whether you're on two wheels or four make sure you wear your helmet and your other safety.

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Gear all right, let's get to it,.

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Here at valley skate park with coco the blind.

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Thrasher, how are you doing today pretty squishy and you good good, I'm doing well. So you actually.

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Grew up out here, yeah yeah I've been born and raised in burbank. I've moved around a.

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Bit and I've come back here, but I think my first day right here at this park was maybe.

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15 16 years ago, oh wow, okay, so you're very experienced that uh all of the skateboarding.

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Which is interesting to me, because you're actually blind is that right. Yes, it is skateboarding.

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Has always been a piece of my life that I decided I wanted to be a constant in my life.

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But I guess I was very lazy complacent when I was cited. I didn't take anything seriously.

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Thus, I didn't really follow my dreams so hard, and so when I lost my sight, I began to feel.

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First, I was a little sad, but then I decided it was time for me to make all these dreams.

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A reality I want to make my life about skateboarding, so it's time to do it, I want to go pro one.

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Day so it's time to do it you mentioned going pro. Is that part of your long-term goals? Yes,.

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So my dream is to be a pro in every sense of the word. I want there to be a whole brand.

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Surrounding me, and not for the reason you would expect, I don't care about money or recognition.

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Or validation or any of those things I want to do it so that anyone out there knows that.

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They can, it could be someone who's blind, someone who's, deaf, someone who's in a wheelchair. It.

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Doesn't matter, I want them to see what I accomplished and that will push them to go for their dreams.

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Because no one deserves to feel like they can't well, you know, I'm actually autistic.

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And so I would love to be much better at skateboarding than I already am, and you know the stuff that.

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You're talking about and the stuff I've seen you do on, instagram is absolutely amazing.

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It's a little bit worrisome getting on that board. There's a lot of fear and anxiety surrounding.

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Maybe trying out your first time skateboarding. How would you tell folks that you overcome.

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Fear fear is always going to be there and the trick is how you use it, because people.

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Come up to me and talk to me like they say: oh things like you're you're fearless or you.

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Just live without fear, oh no! I live with very much fear, but the trick is I don't let the.

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Fear slow me down and make the fear keep me sharp. You're gonna fall accept it trust it.

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You're gonna fall, but if you put both your feet on your board and you trust in your heart.

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That you're gonna land and then maybe you slip out and you take a little tumble. You.

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Just took a little tumble, that's it! But if you chicken out and you fall, your body isn't.

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Ready for it, so that's when you get hurt, why are adaptive sports so important for society.

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And our culture right now, because people are already counting us out, people are already.

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Selling a short as in people with disabilities, and that goes to mental health life doesn't.

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End, if your vision does life doesn't stop moving because your legs do life doesn't go.

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Quiet because your hearing does, we are here to continue forward and to show everybody.

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That you can that losing a sense is not the end of the world that being born without one.

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Doesn't make you weaker than those around you if you want to skate you skate if you.

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Want to dance you dance! If you want to bake cookies, you bake cookies,.

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Nice, I want to ask you about a little musical called the braille legacy and how do you honor.

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That legacy, while also finding your voice, so tell me a little bit about the braille.

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Legacy and why the story is so important, no matter where the braille legacy was put on.

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They never had a blind actor playing. Louis braille, oh and the writer would argue for.

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This at every theater company, he would say at least, if you're not going to give me an.

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Entire blind cast give me a blind louis braille. At least he came to the us and he found a.

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Theater company called theater by the blind who I was working with at the time he said.

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This is perfect. We not only now have a blind louis braille. We have an entire blind theater.

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Company the braille legacy follows louis braille: the creator of the braille alphabet from his.

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Childhood all the way to his death and what he did along the way to empower not only the.

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Royal institute for blind youth, but every blind person moving forward his invention.

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Is a value to all of us to this day, so in your personal success with skateboarding, you've.

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Done some competitions uh you've won some prizes. I went to tampa for my first ever big.

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Boy contest as part of the grind for life series wow, where I would be competing against.

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Adaptive skaters, whose names I've recognized nervous as all get out, not knowing what to.

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Expect, but as an underdog, I did what all underdogs do, and I surprised everyone with a double.

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Podium, I took third in bull and second in straight with no experience in this park, except.

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For one day of practice, that's incredible, and so since then a lot of other companies.

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From taking notice, I went from ten thousand followers on instagram to almost a hundred.

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Thousand overnight- and that was really the start of something big, you know that's where.

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I first found you was on instagram, so you have a huge following online. How does that.

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Feel what do you? What do you hope to get out of getting this huge uh reach on the internet.

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Sure it gives me the things people want. It gives me the knowledge to know that I'm doing.

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Something good- and it gives me that validation for myself, but the most important one to me.

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Is that it's a tangible measure of the difference I'm making in people's lives? I get comments.

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And dms daily, so your instagram has all kinds of videos of you, obviously skateboarding, but.

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Also teaching braille playing the guitar and one of you meeting stevie wonder yes that.

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Was actually something I wasn't ready for, it was kind of a dream, and you know the kind.

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Of dream, you don't have until you have it and then when you have it, you don't realize.

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You've had it until you've had it 10 times in my life. Have I been in the same room as.

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Stevie wonder and three out of those 10 times been standing right next to him, but we neither.

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Of us knew each other was there until after leaving the area number 11. his people, who.

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Are walking with him were like it's coco and he knew who I was instantly because he was.

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In the front row at the braille legacy at opening night I was starstruck. I was flattered.

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I was all kinds of emotions. Can I hug you.

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For real- and he gave me a piece of advice, what would you say to anybody out there, whoever.

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Has a dream and nef isn't quite sure if they can or should or what? What do you tell those.

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People never dream and since then he's reached out and he said that he wants that video to never be forgotten.

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He doesn't want it to just be a flash in the pen like it happened, and then it disappears.

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Speaking of famous blind musicians, I see you've got your guitar here. Oh I'm! Nowhere near that.

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Good but I I can noodle, I noodle, that's a gorgeous instrument. You've got there.

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Friends, foreign.

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Well, okay, it has been both inspiring and motivating to meet coco. I want to thank him for his positive.

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Attitude and his tireless advocacy for people with disabilities and the importance of adaptive.

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Sports, you can follow them on social media at blind, thrasher and there he goes okay. You.

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Can join us here at valley skate park in burbank, 1625, north valley street I'll, see you there.

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Take care of burbank until next time.

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This is the way.